


Emergence of Thom

by Baozhale



Series: Tamora Pierce BINGO 2013 [12]
Category: The Song of the Lioness - Tamora Pierce, Tortall - Tamora Pierce
Genre: Baby, F/M, Pregnancy, delivery
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-10-20
Updated: 2013-10-20
Packaged: 2017-12-29 22:32:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 500
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1010895
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Baozhale/pseuds/Baozhale
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Alanna gives birth on the road. <br/>Emerge prompt for BINGO</p>
            </blockquote>





	Emergence of Thom

As she and her husband, George Cooper of Pirates Swoop, rode home- they were close, only another two hours or so at their current pace- she felt a wetness in her undergarments. She swore. _I know I've been having some... issues with my bladder, but I didn't even feel like I needed to go! And it can't be my monthlies because I don't_ _get_ _those with the baby._

George slowed his horse, forcing her to do the same, and turned to look at her. “Lass? Are you all right?”

“I-” Then the pain started. It was as if her belly was squeezing, plus cramps.

“Is it the baby?”

_Oh gods, what if it is the baby?_ “I hope not. But it might be. Feels like squeezing and monthlies together.”

“Do you think you'll make it to the Swoop?” he asked.

Alanna glared at him. “What kind of lily-fingered noble lady do you take me for? Can I make it to the Swoop, really.”

“None at all, lass. But the baby is like to be as stubborn as his Ma, and he'll come when she wants, not when you want.”

They rode on for a time, but as her contractions grew more frequent, Alanna realized that they were _not_ going to reach the Swoop before the baby came. If they were going to have a roadside birth, she preferred to choose a reasonably comfortable spot. “George?”

“Yes, lass?”

“Have you ever delivered a baby before?”

“That's one thing I've not had the opportunity to do. Ma never wanted menfolk in the room when she helped women deliver. She said we we're always too nervous, and there was always a midwife at the Court. They didn't want me there either, and I never used my status to over-rule them.”

“Wonderful. This will be a first.” Alanna gulped. Having her first child with only her Gift and the skills of her husband, who talented as he was in so many ways, had never delivered a baby, did not appeal to her. _Please, Goddess, let this be an easy birth. Don't make my boy grow up without a Ma like Thom and I did._ She pulled over to the side of the road and dismounted, almost falling off her horse from another contraction. They were _really_ close together now. George followed her, putting a blanket down on the ground for her.

She talked him through the steps she had taken herself more times than she could count, helping other women, holding back screams of pain so she could _tell_ him what he needed to do. Thankfully, George kept his head and the labor was short. Soon enough, a head emerged, quickly followed by the rest of a baby boy, covered in uterus-mess. She told George how to cut the cord, which he did competently ( _How could he not? Cord-cutting is done with a knife, after all,_ ) and held her now squalling newborn son to her chest, not caring about the mess. “Thom,” she whispered. 


End file.
